


Rebirth After Ragnarok

by setos_puppy



Category: Norse Religion & Lore, Supernatural
Genre: AU, Domestic Fluff, Ignores anything after season 5, M/M, Originally Posted on LiveJournal, old fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 03:16:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10585287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setos_puppy/pseuds/setos_puppy
Summary: This is a sequel to the fic Hel's Gift.--Sam buys some books, meets some people.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in 2010 on livejournal, part of the ever migrating slew of fics. Hope you like it!

Life was good.

 

Sam walked through the streets of Massachusetts, hands in his pockets. The world was relatively good, the Apocalypse had been averted and all in all, life was pretty normal. Or, as normal as it was considering his life – hunting demons, finding witches, living with Dean. But he wasn't complaining. 

 

Dean was off hitting up some bars. They weren't really hunting things, they seemed to get more of a break nowadays, and so Sam had insisted they drive up to Salem and Ipswitch. Dean had bitched, but Sam out-bitched him and so here they were. Sam was soaking up the history and enjoying himself. 

 

Right now, Sam was walking through a main drag, watching cars flit by and children run about with their parents. It was cool, late October, but Halloween was still about a week and a half off, because Dean had groused that if they were going, it wasn't going to be on Halloween. Sam had conceded. Walking by a small store, Sam noted a faded, ancient book in the window, which was filtered to save the leather from the sun. Glancing up at the wooden sign: _Sun and Earth Books: Specializing in Rare and First Edition Texts_ , Sam decided it was his kind of place.

 

Opening the door to a faint chime of a bell against the jamb, Sam strode inside. The smell of old books hit his nose instantly and he smiled, feeling at home. The place was packed with shelves, and had books piled on every available surface but it wasn't obscenely cluttered, it just looked well-loved. There was a set of well worn couches against one wall by some looming bookshelves. The store wasn't overly large, but for some inane reason it seemed to stretch on forever. 

 

There was a stampeding sound of footsteps from overhead and then thundering down a set of stairs before a door, which was nestled by the couch and the counter, banged open. Two teenagers, one male, one female, stood in the doorway. Sam smiled at them politely and waved. 

 

“Hi.”

 

“Hey, can we help you with something?” It was the boy who spoke. He looked maybe seventeen, he was dark haired, with unnervingly green eyes and a pleasant smile. He was rather well dressed and tall, at least six feet. 

 

“Nah, just browsing.”

 

“Alright,” the boy replied before disappearing back into the doorway, leaving the girl behind. 

 

Sam smiled at the girl, she smiled back. He drank in her appearance. She was younger, maybe fifteen, with coppery red hair and hazel eyes. She was dressed all in black, even her glasses had black frames, but she seemed nice enough. Or at least polite. She picked up a book off a pile on the counter and sat down on one of the couches, reading. Sam eyed her suspiciously for one long moment, she didn't seem intent on helping him, and she was quiet and a little creepy, but maybe he was reading too much into things. Sighing, Sam turned and trooped down an aisle. Abandoning the odd girl to her reading. 

 

He poked and prodded about, looking for anything interesting that Bobby would like, or that he found interesting himself. None of the books had prices on them and some of them were so faded they were beyond recognition. Some so old the bindings were cracked and the pages were handwritten. Languages ranging from French, to Latin, to Greek, to Swedish, to German, to Hebrew, to Chinese, to Japanese, and Sam swore one was in hieroglyphs. Almost none of the books were in English. Pulling out a book, Sam carefully turned the pages, taking in the Latin. Re-shelving the book carefully Sam continued wandering.

 

He wasn't sure how long he was in the long, narrow rows of books, clutching onto two tomes - _Musaeum Hermeticum_ in original Germany for Bobby and _Pseudomonarchia Daemonum_ in Latin for himself – before his cellphone vibrated. Jerking in surprise, Sam balanced the two books on a step-ladder before fishing out his phone and put it to his ear. 

 

“Hello?”

 

“Where are you?”

 

“Bookstore.”

 

Sam practically heard Dean's eyes roll. “I got us a hotel, fancy, has room service even.”

 

“Cool.” Sam shifted his weight, glancing at his watch. “How about I meet you at the diner where we had breakfast in an hour.”

 

“I'll be there.”

 

Hanging up and pocketing his phone Sam returned to his wandering.

 

After about another fifteen minutes Sam headed for the counter. However, the red-headed, gothic girl was gone. Frowning, Sam placed his books down on a clear space on the counter and looked for a call button. He debated running in and then out of the store again, but that was just stupid. He eyed the door that the two teenagers had come through earlier with trepidation before finally tucking the books under one arm, crossing to the door and opening it. 

 

No creepy, long dark hallways greeted him. Nor any pit into blackness. Just a stairwell, nicely carpeted, and well lit, leading up. Questioning his sanity, Sam took hold of the cast iron banister and slowly climbed up. It wasn't far, only about twenty steps, but it was narrow and a little steep, so perching at the top, in front of a nice looking door, Sam was wondering just what the fuck was wrong with him. Instead of turning around like any sane person, Sam knocked. 

 

A loud, boisterous bark sounded from inside, then shouting, in a language that sounded like Swedish, before the door cracked open. It was a different person this time, a man, older than Sam, maybe a little older than Dean.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Yeah, hi, I was downstairs with some books and no one was down there so I...”

 

“Ah! Come in, come in.” The man opened the door wider and Sam got a better look, he was tall, almost as tall as him, with shiny blond hair and insane blue eyes. 

 

He looked nothing like Sam would picture a bookstore owner to look like, and it was kind of refreshing. In fact, he looked kind of like a jock. As he backed away from the door and Sam shouldered his way inside, Sam noticed he was holding onto a husky with a thick grey coat and white boots and a white snout. 

 

“Sorry, my husband usually deals with customers.”

 

Oh. That made sense.

 

“Follow me.”

 

The man released the dog which bounded off into a room, where a yell, male – likely the teenager's sounded. 

 

Sam followed the man into the cozy, homey apartment. He could smell food wafting from the kitchen and as he passed he found the girl stirring something into a pot, looking calm, far too calm, especially when Sam noticed a large, long snake coiled around her left foot and up her leg. The snake was brown with grey mottling and hissed up at the girl, who smiled and glanced down at it. 

 

Sam had seen weirder things.

 

They reached a door, French, like the rest in the apartment and the man knocked before poking his head inside. He spoke softly to the person on the other side, and now that he was closer, Sam definitely thought it was Swedish. Or Danish. One of the two. 

 

The man turned his head to Sam and smiled. “Go ahead in.”

 

As Sam walked in and turned, watching the older man retreat, he realized he didn't have an accent. But when he spoke the other language, he sounded like a native. How odd. Turning his attention to the door, Sam slipped inside. It was an office, one that reminded him of the ones in Standford, homey but practical. A large oak desk, with comfortable looking chairs, a bookshelf and a wall unit with a TV. It was weird how the store seemed so small, but everything inside it and above it seemed so large. 

 

The man behind the desk was definitely more bookish than his partner. He had russet coloured hair, faint scruff on his chin, and glasses. He reminded Sam of the odd girl, and he wondered if this was her father. He could seem obvious similarities. He was dressed more casual as well, faded jeans and an old Harvard hoodie. 

 

“So, how can I help you?” The man asked, looking up from his computer screen and smiling at Sam. “You want to buy some books?”

 

“Yeah. These two.” Sam held out the two he had chosen. 

 

The man stood up and rounded his desk, taking the books from Sam's hands. He nodded, looking like he approved. “Well chosen.” He pushed up his glasses and handed the books back to Sam. “How about we make it an even two hundred?”

 

“T-two hundred, but these books are worth way more than --”

 

“It's alright. No one ever buys these things,” the man admitted, laughing. He leaned against the desk and Sam could see the mirth in his eyes and on his face. It was contagious.

 

“Alright, deal.” He opened his wallet. “I hope cash is okay.”

 

“Perfectly.”

 

Counting out the money, Sam handed it to the man and watched as he recounted before pocketing it and then pulled out a brown bag and slid the books inside. He rifled through some drawers before pulling out some business cards bound together with a bright green elastic. He tugged one out and tossed it into the bag before handing it to Sam.

 

“Thank you for your purchase.”

 

“Thanks for the books.”

 

“Allow me to walk you to the door.”

 

Sam nodded and followed the man out. As they reached the main hall which branched to the right into the dining room and kitchen and then straight off into the living room Sam noticed a third teenager. He was sprawled out on the couch, his toes tucked under the husky's warm body, playing a video game. His hair was so fair it was almost white, and he seemed to be lithe and wiry. The girl was making a salad now while the blond man cut some meat and the dark haired boy set the table. Sam's heart swelled, it was such a nice, comforting family dynamic. Even if the girl had a snake now coiled around her arm. 

 

“Thanks again for the books,” Sam murmured, holding up the bag. 

 

“Anytime.”

 

As Sam headed down the stairs the russet haired male watched him and then sighed in satisfaction as the door in the store's interior was closed before closing the apartment door. He turned, his hands in his pockets and took the three steps up into the dining room.

 

“Winchesters.”

 

The blond, Bladur, turned and rolled his eyes, smiling. “Just when you think you've gotten rid of them. Even after you've died for them and their stupid Apocalypse...”

 

Loki muttered an agreement and hopped onto the counter next to where his lover was working and watched, smiling softly, as Hel and Forseti argued.

 

Life was good.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, to sort out the kids:
> 
> Red haired, creepy female is Hel, Loki's daughter
> 
> Dark haired, well dressed male is Forseti, Baldur's son
> 
> White haired video game aficionado is Slepnir, Loki's son. How was I supposed to explain an 8 legged horse?
> 
> Snake is Jörmungandr, Loki's son
> 
> Husky is Fenrir, Loki's son


End file.
